Saturday, May 3, 2014

Hair and Skin Copic Class

Hello Friends,

The craziness continues.... Connor and I hopped back into the car Wednesday and drove to Pittsburgh.  I was so glad that he was able to go with me.  Originally I was going to drive out myself for the copic class, but he was able to weave some work into the trip so he could join me.   While I colored he visited a factory and went to meetings.   It was a long drive... not sure I would have made it without him...so a big shout out to my hubby- THANK YOU!

On to the Copic class...   I'll break this into two sections  The things I loved and the things I wish were different.

Here are my LOVEs:    Colleen was my instructor.. LOVE HER.   She is so sweet, and knowledgeable.  She is great at answering questions.  She has an art and education background.  A great blend for her job.   Hair and Skin are challenging skills to master.  I was glad that she was going to be there to guide the way.  This class had a unique approach.  We learned to analyze stamped images and then decide on a strategy for coloring the hair and skin.  We discussed things like... should we "imply" a nose and what shading should we add to the face.  We discussed light source...when to follow and when to break the rules.   I really enjoyed this process.  I like understanding the philosophy behind the art.   We put stamps into three categories, simple, intermediate, and advanced.  Then colored them following some basic rules. I really like this approach to coloring projects.  I'm sure I'll use this in planning future projects.  Colleen did a great job of helping us break this down.

Below is an example of each level.

Simple

Intermediate

Advanced
I love this advanced image.  This girl has such an exotic look.  I also love this hair/skin combo.  It is one of the hardest combos I've worked with.  This is my second attempt at it.  I need to work on blending the skin more.  No girl wants to have a shiny skin.  I wanted to keep blending...but the skin started to look blotchy.  See... Everyone needs to practice, practice, practice! 
Things to think about:
I took the hair and skin workshop that was offered by Copic last year and learned a lot. It has taken a lot of practice, but I feel comfortable with hair and most skin tones.  That class really focused on technique based on the style of hair and color.  Last year we had a full day to learn techniques and different blending combinations.   I'm glad I had that experience.    This years class is only 5 hours long... there isn't much time to talk about the techniques/process used to color hair and skin.  We spent no time at all talking about color combinations to use for ethnicities or hair color.  We were encouraged to use what we were comfortable with.   If you are hoping for a class on how to color hair/skin and what colors to use to get blonde, black...etc....this isn't the class you want.    If you are thinking about taking this class.  I would make sure you have some experience with skin and hair.  I would suggest already knowing how to shade a face, basic blends for ethnicities, and basic hair techniques. This class builds on these techniques...it does not teach you how to do them.  I wouldn't describe this as a basic or beginner's class.

Things I wish where different:
The biggest thing...is this class needed to be longer.  There was so much info to cover and I wanted to hear all of it!   The five hours felt like it was over heart beat.  We only had time to color the hair and skin of four images.  I wanted to color more!!!!   They gave us lots of information... and then there wasn't much time to apply the info.

There is only one more thing I would change.  I hope this doesn't come across wrong.  I would require the participants to have some coloring experience.  Copic is not requiring the Level 1 and 2 certification to take this class.  There were people in our class that had never used a copic marker before.  I felt bad for them, they seemed lost in much of the class.   It didn't affect me at all.  The class was still fast paced and full of information.  I don't think they slowed the class down or skipped things as a result.   I just felt like much of the class went over the newer students heads. The instructor tried to help them as much as possible, but I can't imagine that they didn't feel frustrated. As a teacher myself, I hated seeing them struggle.  I hope they stick with it and keep coloring... rather than get frustrated and quit.


Well friends... if you are still reading this.. THANK YOU.  I hope I haven't put you to sleep.  I took one other class with Copic this week.  I'll share that with you another day.  It was also a lot of fun... but not super relevant to rubber stamping. It was cool learning another way to learn Copics.   Such a cool product.

5 comments:

  1. Wow, what a great experience. I would love to take one of there classes! Sadly, they never have them in driving distance.....so with a flight, hotel, well, it adds up!

    -Cali

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  2. Hi. I signed up to get your blog post via e-mail. I enjoyed the post about your experience in your Copic class (Pittsburg). Thanks for the wonderful classes you did Akron. I really enjoyed it.
    -Cathy

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  3. I check every day to see if this class wiill be offered in Toronto. I love Colleen too, shes amazing. Nice to get your thoughts on this class. Beautifully coloured images :)

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  4. Luv seeing others learning copics like me. I think there is always things to learn and I am grateful for others like yourself that share your fantastic work with us all!

    I love the red hair. What colours did you use to blend for it? I'm still hesitant about what colours to use together for hair etc.

    Thanks for any help in advance and for the continual inspiration you give myself and others!

    Brenda

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